Hello Conservation Volunteers
Thank you to all the volunteers who attended our Thursday morning work session where we had groups working from Porter Clough to Wire Mill Dam.
At Porter Clough a group were clearing drainage ditches and also dismantled a rotten wooden bench which had nails sticking up through the seat! We will be replacing it in a future session.
Over at Wire Mill Dam, a group returned to continue clearing the soil and grass which is growing over the path edges along the dam side, as well as cutting back the bushes which were encroaching onto the steps at the end by the cottages. A definite improvement!
Back at Forge Dam, Ann was busy weeding the borders where the plants which were planted last year are now starting to flourish and have vastly improved the look of the approach to the cafe from the bare, compacted soil as it was last year. We are still awaiting more posts to complete the rope fence we started last year, but the matching post size seem to be in short supply.
Alongside the north dam wall we were cutting back the self set alders growing out of the dam wall which if left to grow will cause damage to the stone wall. There were quite a few alder beetle on the alders but hopefully they should find alder nearby which is not causing any damage to the dam infrastructure. Considered extinct between 1946 and 2003 they seem to like it at Forge Dam!
Peter re-surveyed the height difference between the tail goit from Forge Dam to the head goit which flows to Wire Mill Dam with a hand held Abney level and a willing volunteer holding the pole at the tail goit. The conclusion was that the head goit is higher by about 10cm and therefore an aqueduct could not have been built from the tail goit, but more than likely was positioned higher up somewhere where the playground is now.
The next work morning is on Tuesday 24th May 2022. The usual email will be sent out nearer the time requesting volunteers.
Lyndon.
A Selection of photos from the work morning
Alder clearing in progress
Glyn cutting the alder up to take it away in the wheelbarrow
All alder cleared
Rotting bench removal - Philip and Paul
Paul and Chris
Digging the old posts out - a team effort!
